Chayote questions

A couple of years ago, I tried growing Chayote, and had a poor experience.  A few, but quite small.    I plan on trying it again this year, and now have three plants about a month old and looking good.  These are inside ,  and  are a few inches tall at this time.  I read where people farther north than I am have had good results.  I am located in the SW part of Idaho.    It is basically a desert here.

The Chayote’s  I worked with before, and now have starting, are the smooth skinned ones from the grocery stores.  I have read that the spiky or spiny ones are better for the northern areas.  

Also, what is the story on white ones?

I am looking for someone that can comment on this subject.  Have you, or someone you know, tried various types, what were the results, where did you get the starts, what area and conditions did this happen in, etc.?

Thank You,

B J Stal wrote:
A couple of years ago, I tried growing Chayote, and had a poor experience.  A few, but quite small.    I plan on trying it again this year, and now have three plants about a month old and looking good.  These are inside ,  and  are a few inches tall at this time.  I read where people farther north than I am have had good results.  I am located in the SW part of Idaho.    It is basically a desert here.

The Chayote’s  I worked with before, and now have starting, are the smooth skinned ones from the grocery stores.  I have read that the spiky or spiny ones are better for the northern areas.  

Also, what is the story on white ones?

I am looking for someone that can comment on this subject.  Have you, or someone you know, tried various types, what were the results, where did you get the starts, what area and conditions did this happen in, etc.?

Thank You,

While I was unsuccessful in growing them in North Texas, there is a website with tons of good info about growing chayote. They’re called mirlitons in Louisiana.

Check out mirliton.org. And I hope you’re able to get some established!

I believe the features of chayote are mostly just a product of genetics.

I say this because I have several vines that I now think are probably spawns of an older, possibly dead parent. Each has slightly different characteristics. One of the vines now fruits white and I know we didn't have a white fruiting one before. One is exceptionally spikey. One is susceptible to what I think is downy mildew, the others seem less susceptible. It's hard to track down the vines in my garden, since they grow in rather protected spots - within the branches of other shrubs and trees for the most part.

If my beliefs are true, then the parent had all the genes you talk about - spikes, smooth, white, green, and the children expressed them differently.

I might be wrong.

All the YouTube videos I watched about growing chayote in high latitude area are all about the spikey variety. This type is not day length sensitive and will set fruits in July if started early enough.

The smooth skin chayote in grocery store are imported from the tropical region and it is more tricky. I read that it needs 150 days of growing period and less than 12 hours of day length to set fruits. These traits make it challenging to grow in higher latitude because of short growing season and long summer days. Even if a chayote is started early indoor, it won't set fruit until September and there may not be enough time left for the fruits to mature before first frost.

I sprouted a smooth chayote last October. It has been growing quite vigorously by a sunny window. I kept pruning the vines to keep its size in check and to promote branching. It just had the first male flower blooming yesterday at 4 months old. I will plant it out after last frost but I am expecting it to just grow all summer and have a flush of chayotes in October.